FRANCE'S state railway is bidding for more of the UK network as it teams up with Eurostar to go for the flagship East Coast main line.

A consortium involving Keolis, the international arm of French rail operator SNCF, and the Channel Tunnel train operator is among three bidders short-listed for East Coast, which runs trains from ­London to Edinburgh.

Keolis, in which SNCF has a 70 per cent stake, already runs the Southern, Southeastern and London Midland franchises in a tie-up with Go-Ahead and Transpennine Express with FirstGroup. Other bidders are FirstGroup and a consortium including Stagecoach and Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin.

A takeover by SNCF and Eurostar would effectively mean the re-nationalisation of more of the UK rail network under overseas state operators. Germany’s Deutsche Bahn runs Chiltern Railways, freight haulier DB Schenker, CrossCountry and Arriva Trains Wales. Dutch group Abellio runs Greater Anglia and Merseyrail with Serco.

The Government took East Coast into public control after previous operator National Express struggled to meet franchise payments.

But ministers faced criticism for plans to re-privatise the group, which has been praised for its ­services and has returned more than £600million to the taxpayer.

Rail Minister Stephen Hammond said: “For our railways to continue to grow we need strong private ­sector partners who can invest and innovate in ways that deliver a world class service.”